Retail, Mergers In Focus, Plus, New SEC Boss?
Stocks are mixed on retail sales reports and merger
news.
The EIA said crude inventories rose 1.49 mm barrels–more than
expected–while gas inventories rose 1.3 mm barrels. Distillate inventories rose
by 700K barrels.
Sun Microsystems
(
SUNW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is buying Storage Technology
(
STK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
for $4.1 billion ($37/share).
The deal is expected to close in early Fall 2005.
eBay
(
EBAY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is buying Shopping.com
(
SHOP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) for $620
million cash.
The NYSE halted trading 4 minutes early on Wednesday; a communications
problem with SIAC (Securities Industry Communications System) was cited. There
will be an investigation into what happened. There is a NYSE board meeting
today. On tap: NYSE/ARCA deal, a possible hybrid trading system and the new SEC
chief.
President Bush nominated Rep. Christopher Cox (R, CA) as the new
SEC head. Yesterday, William Donaldson, whose aggressive regulation
antagonized some, announced he was stepping down.
Jobless claims for the week ending 5/28 rose 25K to 350K. Non-farm
productivity for Q1 rose 2.9%, slightly better than expected. continuing
claims. Challenger reported layoffs in May were 82,283 vs 57,861 in
April.
The ECB left all key interest rates unchanged. The dollar is at
8-month lows vs. the euro.
J.P. Morgan’s
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) trading profit will be the worst in recent
memory, says President Jamie Dimon.
Strong sectors are:Â Airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.48%Â Â
Disk Drives
(
$DDX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.33%Â Â Gold
(
$HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+2.31%Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Weak are: Â Computer Hardware
(
$HWI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.71%Â
Chemicals
(
$CEX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.77%Â Â Insurance
(
$IUX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.50%Â Â
| Dow | -19.81 | 10,530.06 |
| Nasdaq | +2.46 | 2090.32 |
| S&P 500 | -1.14 | 1201.08 |
The dollar is -0.3 at
87.78
Crude Oil is +0.30 at
54.90
Gold is +5.20 at 421.50
784 million on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1642 | Up Vol 323 |
| Declining | 1424 | Down Vol 273 |
| 1.15 | 1.18 | |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1390 | Up Vol 392 |
| Declining | 1363 | Down Vol 273 |
| 1.01 | 1.43 |
Stocks in the News
Biogen
(
BIIB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said there was a fourth Tysabri-related death.
Elan
(
ELN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is a partner in the drug.
bebe
(
BEBE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) same store sales rose 40%.
Wet Seal
(
WTSLA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) same store sales rose 56.9%.
Men’s Wearhouse
(
MW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said same store sales rose 12.8%.
Neiman Marcus
(
NMGA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.06.
The FDA barred Tropicana
(
PEP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) from making heart-related health
claims for orange juice.
Gap Inc.
(
GPS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) same store sales fell 8%.
Brice Wightman
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